Blue Jackets defeats host Ottawa Senators 6-2 in regular-season finale
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After scoring three goals in the opening period Saturday night, the Columbus Blue Jackets were left to monitor the out-of-town scoreboard. They didn't get the help they needed.
Pierre-Luc Dubois scored twice as the Blue Jackets defeated the host Ottawa Senators 6-2 in the regular-season finale. The Blue Jackets, who had already clinched one of the Eastern Conference's two wild-card playoff berths, still had a chance to gain the top wild-card slot, thereby avoiding the President's Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the postseason.
But those hopes were dashed as the Carolina Hurricanes won 4-3 at Philadelphia to edge the Blue Jackets by one point in the standings. That means the Blue Jackets, who won seven of their final eight regular-season games, will face the top-seeded Lightning, and the Hurricanes will play the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals.
Markus Nutivaara, Alexandre Texier, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Riley Nash also scored for the Blue Jackets, and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo made 27 saves. Thomas Chabot and Mikkel Boedker scored for Ottawa, which finished with the league's worst record.
Dubois scored twice in the opening 10:33 as the Blue Jackets took a 3-0 lead. He opened the scoring at 3:39 of the first, taking a pass from Artemi Panarin and beating goalie Craig Anderson to the short side.
Bjorkstrand made a nifty move past a defender and fed Nutivaara for a tap-in at the far post to make it 2-0 at 9:08. Dubois scored an unassisted goal at 10:33, chipping a loose puck over Anderson's shoulder to end the goalie's night.
Chabot got the Senators on the board at 8:50 of the second, taking a pass from Brian Gibbons and putting a backhander into the roof of the net past Korpisalo. Texier, playing in his second career game, got his first NHL goal at 15:35 of the second period off a two-on-one rush with Bjorkstrand to make it 4-1.
Boedker pulled the Senators within 4-2 at 6:32 of the third, but Bjorkstrand and Nash tallied in the final 10:30 against goalie Anders Nilsson to cap the scoring.
(With inputs from agencies.)
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